Scoreboard

#18 Men hold off Yellowjackets, 80-72

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

#21 Men brace for Falcons, 'Jackets

THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL…

Thursday, Feb. 2 — 7 pm AST
Wells Fargo Sports Complex — Anchorage, AK
Seattle Pacific (16-4, 8-3 GNAC)
at #21 Alaska Anchorage (15-4, 9-2 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 4 — 7 pm AST
Wells Fargo Sports Complex — Anchorage, AK
Montana State Billings (12-7, 7-4 GNAC [2/2 @UAF])
at #21 Alaska Anchorage

RADIO: Live on FM-93.7 KAFC

TV: Catch replays of both games by tuning to KCFT (GCI cable Ch. 19) … Thursday's contest will air at 11 pm that evening and again at 11 am Friday and noon Saturday … Saturday's game will air at 8 pm the same night, plus 11 pm Sunday and 11 am Monday.

ONLINE VIDEO: Both games free at uaaseawolves.nmtvsports.com

ONLINE AUDIO: Online audio for all UAA men's games is available at GoSeawolves.com in the 'SplashZone' (subscription fee applies).

LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com

SOCIAL MEDIA: Halftime and final score updates on Facebook (Alaska Anchorage Seawolves) and Twitter (@UAASeawolves).

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2011-12 stats)
G—Steve White, 6-0/195, Sr. (7.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.7 rpg, .467 FG, .804 FT)
G—Kyle Fossman, 6-0/180, So. (10.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, .493 FG, .465 3FG, .882 FT)
G—Travis Thompson, 6-1/195, So. (11.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.4 spg, .484 3FG, .897 FT)
G—Colton Lauwers, 6-3/235, So. (4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2.1-1 A-T ratio, .338 3FG)
C—Taylor Rohde, 6-9/255, Sr. (19.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, .612 FG, .805 FT [95-118])

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Seattle Pacific has recovered from a 1-2 start to league play by winning seven of its last eight games … the Falcons, whose only home loss came Dec. 3 against Western Washington (79-71), are led by 6-11 Jr. C Andy Poling (14.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg, .507 FG) and 6-2 So. PG David Downs (14.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, .468 3FG, .852 FT) … Montana State Billings has rallied to win five of six games after a 2-3 start to GNAC play, entering Thursday's game at UAF with a 3-game win streak … the Yellowjackets feature the GNAC's 2nd-leading scorer in 6-3 Sr. G Antoine Proctor (18.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.4 spg, .793 FT), along with 5-10 Sr. PG Jaxon Myaer (14.1 ppg, 4.4 apg, .425 3FG, .829 FT).

ALL-TIME vs SPU: UAA leads 34-27 (26-6 in Anchorage)
   Last Meeting: SPU 85-51 (1/7/12 at SPU)
   Streak: SPU 1 / Notes: The home team has won the last 12 games … UAA has won six straight in Anchorage since a 68-65 SPU win on Jan. 4, 2007 … SPU is looking for the first regular-season sweep by either team since SPU won both games in 2004-05 … eight of the last 10 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer, including the last matchup in Anchorage — a 72-67 UAA win in the 2011 GNAC Tourney semis … SPU leads 14-7 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02), with 4 of those games going to overtime … SPU is tied with MSUB as UAA's 2nd-most common opponent (61 meetings) … series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.

ALL-TIME vs MSUB: UAA leads 35-26 (25-4 in Anchorage)
   Last Meeting: UAA 80-72 (1/5/12 at MSUB)
   Streak: UAA 3 / Notes: UAA swept last year's season series and has won five of the last six meetings … UAA leads 7-2 since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007-08, with both Yellowjacket victories coming in Billings … UAA has won eight straight in Anchorage since a 91-73 MSUB win on Jan. 29, 1998 … a 4th straight UAA win would equal the longest streak for either team in the series (accomplished twice by UAA, once by MSUB) … MSUB is tied with SPU as UAA's 2nd-most common opponent (61 meetings), behind UAF … first meeting was in 1977-78.

TEAM COMPARISONS   UAA   SPU   MSUB*
Overall Record     15-4  16-4  12-7
Conference Record  9-2   8-3   7-4
UAA Home/Opp. Road 10-3  6-3   3-4
Points per Game    78.2  68.3  82.8
Points Allowed/Gm  63.2  57.5  75.4
Rebounding Diff.   +6.5  +8.6  +1.1
Assists per Game   19.9  15.6    16.7
Turnovers per Game 12.9  13.8    17.2
Steals per Game    6.7   6.2    8.5
Blocks per Game    2.4   3.1    3.2
FG%                .493  .460    .442
3-pt FG%           .408  .381    .367
FT%                .747  .660    .753
*Plays Thursday at UAF

ROAD WARRIORS: The Seawolves have swept back-to-back road series for the first time since the formation of the GNAC in 2001-02, completing the feat last week with victories at Northwest Nazarene (81-64, Jan. 26) and Central Washington (82-65, Jan. 28) … in the first game, So. G Kyle Fossman scored a career 26 points on near-perfect shooting (9-10 FG, 6-7 3FG, 2-2 FT) and tied his career-best with a team-high 6 rebounds, helping UAA sweep the season series from NNU … the Seawolves also got a career-high scoring performance from Sr. G Steve White, who had 16 points (1-1 3FG, 9-10 FT), 5 assists and 2 steals in his 103rd career game … Jr. F Abebe Demissie added 11 points (3-6 3FG) off the bench, while So. G Travis Thompson had 7 points (3-5 FG) and 5 assists … UAA doubled up the Crusaders 32-16 on the boards, setting a school record for the fewest boards allowed in a road game (the record of 15 was set against NNU on Jan. 22, 2004 in Anchorage) … the Seawolves also held lofty advantages in FG% (.587 to .469) and 3FG% (.579 to .320), while shooting a season-best .889 (16 of 18) from the FT line … against defending league champ CWU on Saturday, Sr. C Taylor Rohde exploded for 25 of his 31 points (13-19 FG) in the second half, helping UAA to its third straight regular-season victory in Ellensburg … Rohde added 9 rebounds along with his UAA season-high 13 field goals, while White contributed 12 points (5-8 FG, 2-2 FT) … the Seawolves also got a huge lift off the bench from Sr. G Lonnie Ridgeway, who had 12 points on perfect shooting (4-4 FG, 4-4 FT) in his second game back from an 8-week absence due to a broken wrist … Fossman added 8 points, 2 assists and no turnovers, and Demissie had 7 points (3-6 FG, 1-1 3FG) and 6 rebounds.

LAST TIME VS SPU/MSUB: In their first road trip of the season, the Seawolves ran their winning streak to 10 games with an 80-72 win at Billings on Jan. 5, followed by an 85-51 loss at SPU on Jan. 7 … on Thursday, Sr. C Taylor Rohde had 25 points (9-13 FG, 7-10 FT) and 9 rebounds, while So. G Travis Thompson added a season-high 16 points (4-5 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6-7 FT), 5 rebounds and 4 assists against the Yellowjackets … Sr. PG Steve White had 9 points and 4 assists and Jr. G Marcus Jackson had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers as UAA shot 59.5 percent (25-42) from the field and saw all eight scorers tally at least 4 points … on Saturday, the Seawolves suffered their largest margin of defeat in a GNAC game as they were outshot .538 to .306 by the Falcons … Rohde had team-highs of 12 points (4-9 FG, 4-5 FT) and 7 rebounds for UAA, while Thompson had 7 points and 4 assists.

TEAM NOTES: UAA's current 4-game road win streak is its longest since a record nine straight to start the 2007-08 campaign, and it marks just the first time since 1985-86 that the Seawolves have won four straight uninterrupted road contests … UAA's 9-2 league mark is its second-best record after 11 games in the GNAC era, trailing only the 11-0 record of the 2007-08 championship squad … the Seawolves have clinched their seventh consecutive winning season … 8th-year head coach Rusty Osborne is looking for his 150th career win on the bench … the Seawolves lead the GNAC team stats in six categories — scoring margin (+15.0), 3FG% (.408), rebounds allowed per game (28.4), assists per game (19.9) and asst.-turnover ratio (1.5) — and ranks second in four others, including scoring defense (63.2 ppg) and FG% (.493) … in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank in the top 50 in an impressive 15 of 18 possible categories, including No. 3 in both assists per game and asst.-TO ratio; UAA is also 8th in scoring margin, 10th in 3FG% (.408), 19th in both FG% (.493) and rebound margin (+6.5), and 25th in both 3FGs per game (8.5) and FT% (.747).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Seawolves rose four spots to No. 21 in this week's NABC Division II Top 25 poll … UAA was ranked No. 17 in the preseason and has stayed among the top 25 for all but two polls … the Seawolves and fellow GNAC squad Western Washington (No. 16) are the only two West Region teams in this week's rankings … here is an abbreviated look at the poll:

NABC Division II Top 25 — Jan. 31, 2012
(UAA & opponents in bold; West Region teams in italics)
Rk Team (1st pl. votes)      Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 Bellarmine (8)           18-1   200  1
 2 West Liberty             19-1   191  2
 3 Tarleton State           19-1   185  4
 4 Winona State             19-2   176  6
 5 Colorado Mines           17-2   158  11
 6 Alabama-Huntsville       15-3   146  12
 7 Kentucky Wesleyan        15-2   145  7
 8 Southern Indiana         15-2   140  8
 9 Lincoln Memorial         17-1   135  5
10 Christian Brothers       15-1   113  15
16 Western Washington       17-3    78  18
21 ALASKA ANCHORAGE         13-4    42  25
Others West Region Teams Receiving Votes: 28) Cal Poly Pomona 6; 31) Seattle Pacific 5.
Full poll at nabc.org/coaches_corner/divII

'WOLF BITES: Sr. F/C Taylor Rohde has shown why he was tabbed a preseason All-American by Div. II Bulletin, ranking No. 1 in the GNAC in both scoring (19.9 ppg) and FG% (.612), and standing No. 2 in rebounding (8.1 rpg), just one-tenth of a point behind the leader … nationally, he is 14th in FG%, 28th in scoring and 57th in rebounding … the 2010-11 First Team All-GNAC and 2nd-team all-region big man has scored double figures in 15 of the last 17 games (46 of 53 career) … his 31 points at Central Washington was his third career game with 30-plus and his 19th outing with 20 or more … the Arizona State transfer has shot 50 percent from the floor in 14 of the last 15 games, including both last week … Rohde's 25.0 ppg scoring average from Dec. 10-29 marked the first time a Seawolf has scored 100 in a 4-game stretch since Kemmy Burgess had 119 points from Feb. 18-Mar. 4, 2006, and he is almost on pace to be the program's first 20-point scorer since Burgess averaged 21.1 ppg in '05-06 … the GNAC Player of the Week for the last week of December, Rohde ranks in UAA's career top 10 in FG% (2nd, .613), points per game (10th, 17.5), FT made (7th, 235), FT made per game (4th, 4.4) and FT attempted (8th, 308), plus 11th in rebounds per game (7.1), 13th in double-doubles (9), 20th in rebounds (376) and 22nd in points (927) … Sr. PG Steve White is coming off the most productive back-to-back scoring games in his career, tallying 28 points and shooting 11-for-12 at the FT line … White is 4th in the GNAC stats in assists (4.5 apg, 65th nationally), 7th in assist-turnover ratio (1.8) and 10th in FT% (.804) … with 11 games of 5-plus assists this season, the Aussie currently ranks 8th on UAA's career list with 277, needing 22 more to catch Scott Larrabee (1996-00) and Rick Stafford (1995-97) for 6th place … one of two 4th-year seniors on the team, White owns other UAA career ranks of 18th in FG% (.507), 10th in games played (104) and t-7th in victories (69) … So. G Travis Thompson has emerged as perhaps the most dangerous pass-or-shoot threat in the GNAC, leading the league and ranking 2nd nationally in assist-turnover ratio at 3.44 … Thompson also ranks 2nd in the GNAC in both assists (4.9 apg, 38th nationally) and 3FG% (.484), plus 6th in 3FGs per game (2.4) … UAA's 2nd-leading scorer (11.2 ppg) has upped his average to 12.3 in GNAC games … with 1.5 seasons now under his belt, the Dimond High product now qualifies for UAA's career averages list, ranking at No. 3 in 3FG% at .463 … after going 8-of-11 from long range last week, So. G Kyle Fossman moved past Thompson with a .472 career 3FG%, giving the current Seawolves two of the top three percentages in program history … Fossman topped his previous career-high by seven points with his 26 at NW Nazarene, improving his scoring average to 10.7 ppg … in GNAC games, Fossman is UAA's 2nd-leading scorer at 12.8 ppg, shooting .485 from long range … the Haines native ranks among the league's overall leaders in assist-turnover ratio (4th, 2.3), 3FGs per game (5th, 2.4), 3FG% (5th, .465) and assists per game (18th, 2.7) … trailing only Thompson and Fossman's outstanding numbers, So. Colton Lauwers ranks third on the team with a 2.1 assist-turnover ratio … another Dimond grad, Lauwers is also a threat from long range with 22 treys, including go-ahead three-pointers late in UAA's wins over UAF and Simon Fraser … the Seawolves got a boost last week with the return of 5th-year Sr. G Lonnie Ridgeway, who contributed 16 points and 4 rebounds, following an 8-week absence due to a broken wrist … the team's 5th-leading scorer (7.4 ppg) and 2nd leading rebounder (3.9) also shot 4 of 4 at the FT line last week after making just 5 of 15 to start the year … a local product from Heritage Christian HS, Ridgeway ranks among UAA's career leaders in games played (16th, 93) and victories (t-10th, 65) … the team's 4th-leading scorer (7.4 ppg) and 3rd-leading rebounder (3.3 rpg), Jr. F Abebe Demissie delivered his most productive back-to-back outings in GNAC play with 18 points (7-13 FG, 4-7 3FG) and 11 rebounds against NNU and CWU … with Thompson, Fossman and Demissie (7th, .460), the Seawolves feature three of the top seven 3FG% shooters in the GNAC … Jr. G Marcus Jackson has emerged as another offensive threat for the Seawolves, averaging 6.5 ppg on 53.2 percent shooting in GNAC games … along with Thompson (.897), Fossman (.882), Rohde (.805) and White (.804), Jackson gives UAA five 80-percent charity shooters, knocking down 26 of 31 (.839) thus far.

INJURY REPORT: Jr. F/C Chris Weitzel suffered a knee injury in practice Jan. 6 and is out indefinitely … Fr. F Christian Leckband and Sr. G Mario Gill are both out indefinitely with hand injuries.

SEAWOLVES FAVORED IN GNAC: UAA was a narrow favorite to win the 2011-12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, according to the league's 11th annual coaches' poll, released Oct. 12 … UAA polled in nearly a dead heat with Seattle Pacific, edging the Falcons 95-94 … UAA and SPU tied with four 1st-place votes, while Western Washington claimed the other two … this year marked just the second time the Seawolves have been favored in the preseason poll, with the original prognostication coming true in UAA's Final 4 season of 2007-08.

2011-12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rk  Team                    10-11 Rec. (Place)  Pts
 1. Alaska Anchorage (4)    24-10, 13-5, 2nd    95
 2. Seattle Pacific (4)     20-10, 12-6, 3rd    94
 3. Western Washington (2)  16-11, 11-7, 4th    86
 4. Central Washington      26-4, 16-2, 1st     75
 5. Western Oregon          13-16, 8-10, 6th    54
 6. Saint Martin's          14-15, 7-11, 7th    44
 7. Montana State Billings  8-18, 6-12, 8th     36
 8. Alaska Fairbanks        8-17, 5-13, 9th     33
 9. Northwest Nazarene      15-12, 10-8, 5th    31
10. Simon Fraser            3-21, 2-16, 10th    12
Note: Points awarded on 11-9-8-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

2011-12 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Abebe Demissie
AT&T Jamboree Player of the Game vs Portland Bible, 12/2
Kyle Fossman
AT&T Jamboree All-Tournament Team, 12/3
Taylor Rohde
Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game vs UC Irvine, 11/26
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/26
AT&T Jamboree Most Outstanding Player, 12/3
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 25-31
Travis Thompson
AT&T Jamboree Player of the Game vs Minot State, 12/3
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Steve White

#14 Steve White

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Mario Gill

#2 Mario Gill

G
6' 2"
Junior
Taylor Rohde

#34 Taylor Rohde

F/C
6' 9"
Junior
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Chris Weitzel

#RS Chris Weitzel

F/C
6' 7"
Junior
Abebe Demissie

#24 Abebe Demissie

F
6' 6"
Junior
Marcus Jackson

#22 Marcus Jackson

G
6' 2"
Junior
Colton Lauwers

#23 Colton Lauwers

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

F
6' 5"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Steve White

#14 Steve White

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Mario Gill

#2 Mario Gill

6' 2"
Junior
G
Taylor Rohde

#34 Taylor Rohde

6' 9"
Junior
F/C
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Chris Weitzel

#RS Chris Weitzel

6' 7"
Junior
F/C
Abebe Demissie

#24 Abebe Demissie

6' 6"
Junior
F
Marcus Jackson

#22 Marcus Jackson

6' 2"
Junior
G
Colton Lauwers

#23 Colton Lauwers

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

6' 5"
Freshman
F